At least he’s not in the Epstein files. As far as we know. 
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I think it’s that the regional restaurants in residential neighborhoods have to broaden the menu to please everyone in order to stay in business. So while they may still have some excellent regional dishes, they may be harder to locate because the menu reads as generalist.
See this earlier discussion of protein + sauce (not unlike the mix & match protein-curry discussions elsewhere including here) – at TriDim Shanghai, for eg, there are certainly plenty of Shanghainese specialties, but also lots that are generic people-like-to-order-these dishes.
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It seems to me I was a little mean spirited in my remarks about leff, he did create something exceptional: a global forum about food with ten million users is an incredible achievement. Of course with the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to pick apart mistakes he may have made.
Still, pretty sure there’s no universe where i call myself “alpha dog” 
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That’s the one with the bugs, anyway. Otherwise we wouldn’t need beta dogs.
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Also, pretty sure I don’t agree with his fashion decisions. But who am I to talk, you’ve seen my winter hat.
If I have, I’ve suppressed the memory of it. Now you have to wear it again.
Here’s the app leff created, seems like a good idea, good reviews, just downloaded and it crashed. Gotta love his writing style: “unlocks a whole new world of delicuousness…”
I paid for the app, but it’s gone from the playstore and from my android phone.
Oh, that was a while ago, no? I vaguely remember not wanting to pay for it.
Seems he needed a solid tech partner for the good ideas to take life (and stay alive).
Back in 2001/2002, Leff’s book got me onto Chowhound, which got me onto eGullet and then OA/Mouthfuls/HO. I was living in Brooklyn and just making enough money to eat out more. I’ve always been an adventurous eater, but being on the boards, going out to various dinners, and getting together with people inspired me so much. I don’t think I’d have become the eater I am today without them.
BTW, my first gathering? The late Two Toms in Gowanus/Park Slope. No written menu–you needed to go with someone who “knew”. Wood paneling on the walls like someone’s rec room, the one selections were one white and one red, both kept in the refrigerator, and there was a whole table of plainclothes cops having dinner while we were there. (Two Toms was probably a Mob hangout too, or at least Mob-run.)
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Yeah, I missed that dinner. Two Toms was sort of a junior Rao’s without being heavy, just folks who tended to know who knew who. I got a kick out of hearing about your dinner there, as I kept conjuring up mental images of what the other diners and the owning family must’ve thought about a table who were there for the food (not their strong point: overcooked pasta, but the chops could be great, depending on which truck it fell off of). The folks I usually went there with were post-basketball gym guys from the neighborhood, like the one I grew up with and wound up managing the casket company across the street. At any rate, it was the place where (way before cell phones), my pager went off during dinner one evening (I was on call) & I knew better than to use the local public phone booths outside (they were “business” phones and you didn’t want to mess with anyone’s business). The grandmother heard the beep, saw my uncertainty and had me come up to the family living room to use their phone.
As for our pretty identical paths on food boards, I guess our first in person meeting was sitting together at the BBQ festival on Randall’s Island where you brought your younger sister. One of those early on forays in which a get together included everyone from Ali (Kebab Cafe) to the pit master who would open Hill Country (& maybe Backyard Chef?). Your eventual move to California is still NYC’s loss. At least you’re still a fellow masochist and remain on the food boards.
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I went once. I was served the aforementioned overcooked pasta topped by what I am 100% sure was Progresso white clam sauce. I have no idea why people liked that place.
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two toms was our annual end of softball season dinner. every year we brought a huge cooler of beer in, couple of years we went out for refills mid-meal. was the food good? when you’re drinking as much as we were, it doesn’t really matter but I have fond memories of those meals.
a couple of the guys from our basketball team were from the neightborhood, so eventually we were there twice a year, after a bit they got to know us.
was it mobbed up? let’s just say I didn’t take it as a positive development the first time I was greeted by name.
best,
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did you bring in a couple of cases of beer?
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That doesn’t sound like a thing I would do. Although it would likely have improved the experience.
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Aw, thanks Steve. 
I can’t help it–I miss those connections. And without pilgrim (via Mouthfuls), I never would have found out about HO and its very robust Northern California board.
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Robbie Richter…yep.
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DMV is correct, although I think it’s used around the DC suburbs (logically). I don’t think I’ve ever heard it in common usage in the Maryland boonies. And it is confusing - the MVA used to be called the DMV!
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